Wow. Just… wow. I can't believe I had to wait a good month or so. I am so sorry guys. Anyway, I present Chapter 14 of Ruin and Creation.
Chapter 14: Moonfall
He walked back to town slowly. His recent findings had made him happy. However, the threat of Ganon still loomed large over him. If only he could defeat Ganon, everything would be made better. But all he saw ahead was darkness.
He entered Castle Town quietly, then went to the tavern. It was an unspoken memorial for Sean and Exsan to meet in a bar. Link found them sitting at a table, minding their own business.
"Hey guys. How was your day in town?" he asked.
Rytex grunted.
"We went to Harbor Town today to visit Rinzler. Also, we got to speak with the Princess on what was happening."
Link nodded.
"Yeah, she'd understand."
"So what did you do today? We didn't see you at all. Even when we were in town."
"I went and found my parents. Also, Vanitas attacked."
Rytex spat out his ale.
"What!"
"Yeah. He also woke the darkness inside me."
Ryet was stunned.
"Then- then Ganon's- plan is-"
"No. Vanitas absorbed the darkness inside me. It's gone. He says that it takes another awakening to bring it back, and if he does, he'll just reabsorb it. Ganon has ensured that his plan will eventually be fulfilled." Link said with a sigh.
Rytex looked horrified.
"Link, if that's true, then they might just start destroying things you love just to steal your darkness and make themselves more powerful."
"He did say Hyrule was next." Link said.
"What else?"
"I'm going to watch another Princess die- ZELDA!"
Link was running before he finished the sentence. Rytex and Ryet were right behind him. HE couldn't believe he had been stupid enough to forget such a revelation, even when compared to finding out about his parents.
They ran straight up to the castle, ignoring the guards who sounded protestations. The full moon rose high and shone brightly. Link didn't stop his furious running until he made it to the throne room. He caught his breath as Zelda eyed him strangely.
"Zelda, you're in danger!"
Zelda's eyebrows rose.
"What?"
"Ganon's going to kill you. He wants to kill you to awaken the darkness inside me."
Rytex nodded, looking as though he hadn't tired even slightly in the run to the castle. Not for the first time, the thought crossed Link's mind if Ganon's darkness had increased his physical ability.
Ryet, however, clutched at a stitch in his side painfully.
"We have no time to explain. We have to get everyone away from Hyrule now!" Link said.
Zelda looked at him for a moment; Link even thought she might not believe him. Then she nodded.
"Then let's go."
They worked quickly to get Zelda's horse saddled. Then they shot off toward the gates of Castle Town to alert the townspeople.
Link had left early to get Malon. The whole of Hyrule was in danger. Malon got on Epona and they galloped off toward Fondor's border. Link said al-Alema was still standing, though the rest of Fondor had fallen into a fissure.
After she took off, Link visited Talon and Ingo and told them the same thing. They both left.
Link returned to Hyrule Castle, then helped get Zelda ready to go. Zelda took off as fast as possible.
However, as she reached the Castle Town gate, Link saw a sight that made his heart stop.
Vanitas stood at the city gate, watching people run toward him. As citizens attempted to pass them, he killed them. No one made it past. Everyone was trapped.
Rytex snarled.
"I've been waiting for this!"
He summoned his Keyblade, charged Vanitas, and began to fight him.
Link didn't have time to look because someone tackled Ryet, and they were wrestling on the ground.
Perversions and Incompletes preyed upon the villagers.
Then Ganon appeared. He stood on the battlements of the town, laughing as he watched the proceedings below.
"You can't escape! Hyrule will fall by my hand this very night!"
He raised his hand skyward. In unison, everyone looked up.
Cracks appeared in the moon. Chunks of the moon detached themselves and hurtled toward the planet. Citizens screamed. Link saw at once that there was no escape except by teleportation. No one could get away but Ganon, Dalen, Vanitas, and them.
Zelda pulled out the Ocarina of Time and began to play notes frantically, sensing the same doom.
Rytex and Ryet were still fighting Dalen and Vanitas, but Dalen vanished.
Vanitas wouldn't die. He'd just reform from the darkness.
Zelda vanished, replaced by auras of magic. As they flew away, Ganon reached out and caught her. Zelda reappeared, held by the throat.
"None of that, princess."
He yanked the ocarina away and crushed it. Then he dropped Zelda as she fell unconscious.
She fell into the town's moat.
The moon's pieces got ever closer.
Rytex and Ryet teleported away in a corridor of darkness, unable to stay any longer.
Link ran at Zelda furiously, but Vanitas stopped him.
Vanitas laughed an insane laugh before grabbing Link. Link felt himself vanish.
The next thing he saw, he was standing in the middle of the Keyblade Graveyard, on top of the rock pillar.
He thought hard of Castle Oblivion and felt the portal close around him. If he went back to Hyrule, he'd die. He wanted to save Zelda, but his life was more important because he had to face Ganon.
He appeared in the library. Rega sat at a table. He looked up as Link entered.
"Link?"
"Let me see the Scrying Ball." Link said in desperation.
Rega led him to it.
He found the ball and held a hand over it, thinking hard of Hyrule.
"Draumr Kópa."
The cloudy ball instantly turned clear as crystal.
Rocks littered the ground; the town had been vaporized in the crashing. No vegetation remained. Only blackened soot and ash. A few charred skeletons lay scattered around the ground.
Link let the spell go in shock. He sank to his knees and let out a yell of rage and agony.
A door opened above him somewhere.
"You guys might want to see this." came Rytex's voice.
Rega ran up a flight of stairs to get there. Link followed suit a second later. They stood on a balcony overlooking the castle and the Thamasa Basin miles below.
A wall of fire was advancing their way and at an incredibly quick rate.
"It's the shockwave from the landing." said Rytex grimly.
In front of the wall of fire, Link glimpsed a wave of rock heading their way in front of the fiery wall.
"Look at that!" Link said, pointing at the wave of earth.
Ryet looked at it, then immediately ran back in.
"Get inside! If it hits, we'll be thrown up out of the protection of the castle! If we're outside, we'll be hit by the fire since we'll be in the air! Get inside now!"
No one needed telling twice. They ran inside as the conflagration grew ever closer. Rega slammed the door shut behind them. The night sky lit up in red and orange hues as the fires got closer.
The castle gave an almighty lurch. Books fell from shelves, and Link fell off the second level, landing hard on the first one.
Then the fires swept around the castle.
It was quite beautiful, to be honest, watching the fires rage around them. But it was still fear-inducing.
No one rested easy until the fires vanished a few minutes later.
Link rushed over to the Scrying Ball and muttered the phrase, thinking with all of his being of Malon.
The ball cleared of the clouds. Link saw Malon, clutching at a slightly bloodied arm in a stone house that looked wrecked. Talon sat next to her, nursing a bruised head, while Ingo held a hand under water. It looked slightly blistered.
Link let out a shaky sigh, glad that Malon had survived. But he was still grief-stricken over the death of Zelda.
Rytex vanished in a portal quietly.
"Where's he going?" asked Rega.
"He's going to speak to Yen Sid about everything that just happened." said Ryet.
"Ryet, your castle has served us well." Link said.
"Hey, where's Xemyli?" asked Ryet.
"Back here!" she called. She emerged from behind a shelf, clutching her arm.
"An extremely large book fell on my arm. I can't feel it or move it, though it does hurt when I try. I think it may be broken."
Rega walked over and examined it, occasionally prodding it gently. Xemyli made hissing noises when he did.
"Yeah. You fractured your ulna. It seems like a clean fracture and it's definitely dislocated, so I'll have to set the bone. Brace yourself."
Xemyli gritted her teeth as Rega popped the bone in place. When it happened, she whimpered painfully, then calmed. Rega let out a shaky breath.
"We were lucky. Everyone around the world that survived that was lucky." he said.
Final-freaking-ly. My grades are manageable, and I was finally able to upload. Damn, I really needed some work. Anyway, now I continue the story. The way things look, I'll be finished sometime in February or March if I stay on schedule. Anyway, I apologize.